Pacification of Chengdu

The Pacification of Chengdu occurred in 213 AD when Liu Bei and his army conquered the capital of Yi Province, Chengdu, and forced its lord Liu Zhang to surrender.

Background
In 211 AD, Yi Province governor Liu Zhang invited his distant relation and fellow warlord Liu Bei to assist him in defending Yi from Cao Cao, who was planning to invade Yi from Hanzhong after defeating Zhang Lu. Liu Bei agreed, and he brought his army into Yi Province to assist Liu Zhang, while Guan Yu remained in Jing Province to guard it from Sun Quan and Cao Cao's forces. Liu Bei was greeted enthusiastically by the people of Yi Province, and his strategists Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang decided to secretly make arrangements to seize control of Yi Province from Liu Zhang. Through bribery, they managed to secure the defections or surrenders of several of Liu Zhang's subordinates, and they led the army south towards the capital of Chengdu.

Battle
Liu Bei's army advanced on Chengdu from two sides: the Mianzhu Forest in the north, and Luo Castle in the south. While Luo Castle was seized in a separate battle, Liu Bei took his main army and advanced through the Mianzhu Forest, with Pang Tong and Huang Zhong leading the vanguard. The forest was unusually quiet, and the quiet was broken when Zhang Ren's ambush unit appeared. Pang Tong was mortally wounded by an arrow, and his unit was eliminated; Liu Bei's army suffered a severe setback.

However, at the same time, Zhao Yun assaulted Chengdu from the south, defeating Li Yan and opening the southern gate of the city. Upon hearing of Pang Tong's death, Zhao Yun decided to cut his way out of the castle, defeating Meng Da and opening the east gate of Chengdu Castle. He then defeated Yan Yan before he could move his unit into the Mianzhu Forest, and he also defeated Zhang Ni at the opening of the forest. Zhao Yun then charged alone deep behind the enemy lines, defeating Zhang Ren. With Zhang Ren defeated, the forest was clear.

The combined forces of Liu Bei's army then advanced on Chengdu Castle. Zhao Yun sealed off the remaining enemy checkpoints all around Chengdu as Liu Bei himself advanced through the north gate, surrounding the inner city. Liu Zhang refused to surrender without a fight, so Liu Bei's forces stormed the inner gates, defeated Liu Zhang, and forced him to surrender. Liu Bei announced that he would restore the Han dynasty from the land of Shu, creating his own kingdom.